Protein kinases predominately expressed in human ES cell lines during differentiation

Capacity of human embryonic stem cells (ESC) for unlimited proliferation and differentiation make them an attractive object in fundamental science and medicine. Little is known about the mechanisms that direct cells to particular differentiation or sustain them in an undifferentiated state. Activation of these mechanisms is determined by gene expression mediated by cascades of signal transduction. Protein kinases are essential components of signal pathways. The study of protein kinases expression in ESC and embryoid bodies facilitates a better understanding of the processes underlying the differentiation stages. We isolated cDNA libraries with fragments of catalytic domains of protein kinases expressed in human ESC and embryoid bodies (EB) of hESM01 and hESM02 cell lines. Using Northern hybridization, we revealed a high level of protein kinases MAK-V in human ESC. Expressions of MAK-V, A-RAF-1, MAPK3, IGF1R, NEK3, and NEK7 in ESC and EB in hESM01 and hESM02 cell lines were compared by the semiquantitative method RT-PCR.